


It isn't...

by lucali



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Pirate, Drama, Hetalia Countries Using Human Names, Light Angst, M/M, Romance, some violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:01:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25797064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lucali/pseuds/lucali
Summary: Antonio and Lovino have been separated for years. Lovino is still struggling to come to terms with the fact that the other has gone while doing his best to move on with his life. One day, he sees a rather suspicious ship and runs into some rather angry men... Will he find out what's happened to his friend or will he meet a horrible fate before he can? What would he even say...(I'm new to ao3 so please excuse the lack of tags! I wasn't sure of how to tag!)
Relationships: South Italy/Spain (Hetalia)
Kudos: 15





	It isn't...

**Author's Note:**

> (disclaimer, this was an rp starter and I have not written a real actual story since... 6th grade. And I'm sick and on my way home in an airplane for the majority of writing this so 👌🏼 criticism is appreciated. I know how to set things up for an rp but a story? Where there's no need to rush? Nope. Nada.... )

Lovino woke with a start and sat up. The only light in the room came from the sliver of a moon just outside their window. The Italian ran a hand through his dark brown hair and sighed as he looked to his brother who'd been sleeping peacefully next to him, then towards the door that led to the room of the woman they'd been staying with. It wasn't like she'd be awake at this time of the night. She slept most of the day anyway. 

He sighed and slid out of the bed, making sure not to wake Feliciano. He knew well enough that he wouldn't be going back to bed any time soon, especially not if he laid there and let himself fester in his own thoughts. It was best to take a step outside. To listen to the night birds and the drunkards heading home and distract himself. Taking one last glance at his sleeping brother, he pulled his coat on and slipped on some shoes before heading outside. He didn't go very far, instead opting to take a seat next to the tree in the front yard.

It was a place that held good memories. Memories like when Nonno would take them to Ludo's to visit when they were young. Lovino remembered when he and Feliciano would sit at the flour covered table with her and Nonno, making different Sweets or, at times when they'd been good, pizzas. They didn't make pizza or Sweets nowadays. Ludovica was getting older, she was getting sick and no matter how hard they tried, Lovino and Feliciano just couldn't seem to hold a job. Feliciano was fast finding new work, but Lovino was just... Less employable. No, instead he'd turned to less honest lines of work, like snagging unattended money from the pockets of distracted or drunken sailors. Then there was Nonno. He didn't want to think about that now though. He was out here to get his mind off of all of the bed things. Instead he needed to focus on thinking of happier memories!

For example, the last time he and Antonio had been here. It had been on Feliciano's birthday. Feliciano had been with his other friends in the backyard while Nonno and Ludo finished dinner in the kitchen. Lovino had been about thirteen while Antonio had been almost fifteen. They'd been alone in the front yard after Lovino had gotten upset over something that no doubt, was something small. Antonio had told him to sit with him and try to breathe. To try to relax. To think of something else, like he was doing now. Not that it had helped. Lovino's temper was always awful.

"Listen to the birds" he'd insisted

"It's the same birds as always, jerk, how will that help?"

Antonio had only laughed at his remark. He'd known better than to take offense to Lovino's empty words. "fine, okay, well, will you look at the clouds with me?"

Lovino opened his eyes to look up through the dark leaves at the few stars peeping through, then he glanced over to where Antonio had sat. That had been the last time he'd seen him. They'd spent the afternoon together, making shapes out of the clouds, completely oblivious as to what was to come later that night...

Lovino groaned and looked back up quickly to get his mind off of Antonio as he felt a heavy feeling settle in his stomach. He needed to move on. That all he had to do! Maybe if he could just... Get his head out of his ass, he could get rid of these fucking nightmares and get on with his life! He could get sleep and forget about his grandfather and forget about Antonio, and maybe get a real job! They were gone! Nothing lovino could do could bring them back! His grandfather had died trying to hide them from pirates raiding their town and Antonio? Nobody seemed to know where he went. It wasn't hard to understand if he'd disappeared after a pirate attack, it wasn't a good sign. If anything, to Lovino, it was worse than if he'd been found dead. After all, at least if they HAD found him they'd be able to have closure. To give him a proper burial. 

Lovino stood and looked towards the fence before finally deciding to try to just go back to sleep. There weren't many places in this house or out of it that hadn't already been touched by Antonio or his grandfather. Trying to escape their memory by being awake just... Wouldn't work. With a deep sigh, he returned upstairs and crawled back into bed. 

....

When Lovino woke up again, this time it was morning. Feliciano was getting ready to go out to his first day at yet another job while chattering happily to Ludovica, who was getting the bread and jam ready for breakfast. The older Italian rubbed his eyes as he sat at the table and forced a tired smile when Ludovica gave her own polite smile. "When are you meant to be in today, Lovino?" she asked in that calm, motherly tone.

Lovino could only groan in response. He was exhausted and he'd yet to tell Ludo what his real job was. How could he? She was so sweet, she'd opened her home to them and the absolute least he could do was not become a thief and get a real job. But they also needed money. He'd done pretty good keeping up the charade of disappearing for about 14 hours a day and coming back with a decent amount of change, either procured from pockets or the valuables within. As long as he avoided the bakery Feli worked at and the markets while Ludo went out to shop, all was well. 

"'m not sure," he finally yawned.

Ludovica sighed and Lovino cringed internally. He knew he couldn't hide very well from her. After all, they'd lived with her since Lovino was thirteen. She didn't know exactly what was up, but it was clear that she knew it was something. Lovino ducked his head down as he took a piece of bread, picking at it for a bit before trying again. "Around ten." he decided. "But I have to stay late" and he would. After all, there hadn't really been much business. He heard a couple of ships were supposed to come in today, but they were the first in what felt like months. Ludo seemed more content with this. She nodded and passed some of the jam over to Lovino before going to wish Feliciano well. Though she smiled proudly, all three knew Feliciano wouldn't make it through the week. The kid tried his best, he just... Never seemed to be able to focus. Still, even Lovino lifted a hand to wave his little brother off. At least he'd managed to secure a job, even if it was purely luck and charm.

Once he was gone Lovino ate rather quickly and helped clear the table and clean up the kitchen a bit. As much as he adored Ludo, any excuse to not talk was a life saver. He was scared if they talked for too long, she'd ask questions. Why was he up so late? Why was he tired? Why did the fisher's son catch him near a pub last Wednesday? Why doesn't his job pay weekly like Feliciano's? They were all great questions that he just wasn't ready to answer. So, when he'd finished in the house, he said his own goodbyes then slipped out. It was time to work.

Lovino, himself, wasn't anything to gawk at. He was slim, slightly shorter than average, had a mess of brown hair on his head, slightly tanned skin and hazel eyes. Truly, he looked just about like every other Italian man on the streets in Ostia. The only feature that could possibly stand out was a small strand of hair that stuck out of the side of his head, a stubborn cowlick. If he moved fast enough, it wasn't a problem. He blended in far too well, and honestly it just made his job easier. He made his way through the streets, first toward the harbor to see if the two ships had indeed come in.

It was a path he'd memorized. From running ahead of his grandfather to see the ships to sneaking out late with Antonio. It took him no time to arrive, and when he did, he was greeted with the sight of not one, not two, but three ships, all standing proud in the mid-morning sun. Each flew a flag of a distant land, however it was the ship in the middle that caught his attention. At the top of those towering masts and sails flew a spanish flag. The ship itself was worn but at least three sizes larger than any other ship docked there. Oh yeah. This one was going to be full of rich idiots. And given how beaten the ship looked, he was almost willing to bet money on where they’d all be.

Not even fighting that smug smirk that tugged at his lips, the Italian made his way to the center. Restaurants, pubs, and places to rest would be the perfect attraction for tired sailors. As he got closer, he did start hearing… whispers. Rumours of pirates. Lovino didn’t take those kinds of rumors very lightly, given his past with them. But he needed money. He’d be extra careful, avoid the big guys, stick to the men who didn’t look like they were more dirt than human. He would be smart. He would have to be if he wanted to get back to Felicano and Ludovica. 

Keeping his head down low, Lovino weaved through the crowd, trying to spot anyone who may be a decent victim. As a rule of thumb, he avoided taking from people from his own village. Not only was it a morality issue, but the fact that these people would be more likely to recognize him really left a lot of targets unreachable. That’s not to say it was impossible to find targets though. A sailor sitting outside eating with his buddy, his money left to the side, unwatched… Lovino’s. He’d even manage to sneak a pretty silk hankercheif off of another. That would fetch a pretty penny at the pawn shop later on. He set his eyes on his next target, deciding just one more before he moved to somewhere else. After all, it was crowded. He spotted a man, back to him and distracted. The idiot was asking for it. After all, who the hell just stuffed a gold chain in their back pocket?? Better yet, who they hell stuffed a chain in their back pocket and didn’t at least make sure it was all the way in? Lovino walked towards him as if nothing was going on, reached out his hand and…. Froze. He looked over to a much larger man squeezing Lovino’s wrist tight enough he was sure it was going to bruise. Lovino gulped, but tried his best to keep his cool. 

“Hey- what the fuck asshole?” He hissed, trying to yank his arm back, only to be pulled forward in response. By now his target had turned to look at the would-be thief.

“Yeah, that's what I was thinking of asking you” The first man said, eyebrows raised. His tone was pleasant enough, though his strict grip on the Italian was anything but. Lovino knew he was in deep shit. 

“Hey- let me go, I didn’t do anything” He tried

“No, but you sure did want to!” The man’s laughter sent chills down Lovino’s spine. Any fantasy he had of his follow townsfolk helping out was sorely mislead as they all just stared at the seen unfurling with wide, confused eyes. Oh, Ludo would hear this. 

“Yeah but I didnt, fuck off”

A loud smack was heard as the sound of the first man’s open hand hitting Lovino’s cheek rang through the center. Tears stung Lovino’s eyes but he fought them back as the men only laughed. He brought one hand up defensively, to cover his now bright red cheek, but it did very little to dissuade the men. They were having their fun. They poked fun at Lovino, calling him names, belittling him. Maybe if they let go of him there and left him to deal with Ludo’s disappointment that would be one thing. That would be enough punishment on it’s own, let alone the possibility of being turned into the police. 

“Just let me go” He grumbled, trying again to pull away only to get pulled underneath the first man’s arm as if he were some kind of buddy and not some poor old pickpocket being bullied. Lovino almost had to hold his breath at the horrible smell of alcohol mixed with body odor. 

“You know what? I think I have a much better idea” Lovino’s skin crawled at the tone in his voice and he felt absolutely nauseous. 

“No-”

“Oh yeah, you know, I think our captain would love you. I bet he’d have so much fun with you”

He felt like he was certainly going to puke. These guys had to be joking, right? He’d just tried to knick a god damn necklace from some idiot’s pocket! There was no use in needing to see any ‘captain’! He tried to pull away again, this time harder. He looked around for help, only to discover most of the others that had been enjoying the day had mysteriously vanished. Maybe he couldn’t blame them for not wanting to get mixed up- he sure as hell wouldn’t have… but couldn’t one person intervene? 

He opened his mouth to try to call out for help, only to be met in response with some filthy rag being shoved in his face and a blade to his back. Lovino almost choked on his own spit in response and didn’t make another word. As strong as he liked people to think he was- he wasn’t stupid. He didn’t really see a way he was getting out of this, at least not at this point. 

“Think of it as a time out until you learn to be a big boy” The man with the gold chain cooed. It took everything Lovino had not to risk being stabbed in order to kick that asshole in the dick. 

The two men seemed to have at least one braincell as they did avoid the more crowded areas during the short trip back down to the docks. Though, to give them credit, most people had gone in doors at this point. Word spread pretty quickly when pirates came to town and even faster when they’d decided on being violent. 

Lovino dragged his feet, moved as slow as possible, did everything he could in his power to avoid getting on that ship, but the harder that knife blade pressed into him and the harder that arm gripped him, the more he found he didn’t have any ground to stand on. It didn’t take long until he was on the ship. One of the men pressed a filthy hand over Lovino’s eyes so he couldn’t see anything as they dragged him downstairs and tossed him carelessly into a cell. He groaned as he hit the ground with a loud thud, only to be met in response by a swift kick and a ‘keep quiet.’. The metal door shut and that was all. Lovino stayed where he was for a while, terrified that they’d come back. What would they do to him? Would they really let him out after a bit or would he be left to the captain? What would the captain do? Would he torture Lovino? Kill him off immediately? It all seemed a bit excessive over an ugly necklace… Lovino slowly pushed himself to stand. His arm ached, he was pretty sure he had a cut on his back, albeit a small one, and he couldn’t see a god damn thing. It was pitch dark. He did the only thing he could think to do. He started yelling. And screaming. And doing absolutely anything he could to make noise hoping someone, anyone might hear him from the outside or that maybe a nice pirate could cut him some slack. He screamed and he cried and he begged for hours but there was nothing. Eventually he just sunk back against the furthest wall in the cell and sobbed. He cried for Feliciano and Ludo, what they would think now when they discovered Lovino had been taken. He cried that Feliciano would be alone to take care of Ludo. He cried that he’d probably die and never see the light of day again. He didn’t want to meet the same fate as Antonio had… he was scared. 

He didn’t know how much time had passed between him being on the ship and the moment it started moving, but he was willing to bet it was at least half the day. He could hear muffled commands above and the ship beginning to rock as it was sent back to sea, but he didn’t bother yelling anymore. He wasn’t really sure how his odds of being rescued would be now that the ship was actually moving. He rested his head on his knees and drew a shaky breath. He was going to die.


End file.
